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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27589280">Caught in the Cross-Fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeghxtifveil/pseuds/Zeghxtifveil'>Zeghxtifveil</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>World Trigger (Anime &amp; Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>My First Work in This Fandom, Work In Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:15:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,332</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27589280</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeghxtifveil/pseuds/Zeghxtifveil</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A story following a group of people who get involved in BORDER and the fight against the Neighbors.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h2>Chapter 0</h2>
<h3>The Invasion of Mikado City</h3>
<p>On a day like any other, in Mikado City, Japan, blackholes filled the skies. From these mysterious portals, the Neighbors appeared from another world. That day, humanity learned that their modern weapons stood no chance against the invaders’ technology. A group of individuals came forth and began pushing back against the threat, the Border Defence Organization, or simply Border. With much of the city in ruins, thousands dead, and hundreds missing, the city began to rebuild. For some, the grief would never end. For others, this was a new beginning. Four years have passed since that day. Border has become stronger than ever with around 500 agents and new weapons being developed every day.</p>
<p>Katai Ketsugou, a 14 year-old who’s currently in his second year of Junior High, has finally completed his enlistment into Border as a defense agent alongside his best friend Alexander Drake. Due to their respective side-effects, they are being mentored by two A-rank level solo agents, Tsun Mukabe and Sou Soen. Today just so happens to be another day that Ms. Mukabe and Mr. Soen are taking Katai and Alexander for some training to get used to using Border's Triggers, weapons that run off of a mysterious energy called Trion. </p>
<p>"Come on. We gotta get the rookies, <em> Sou </em>."</p>
<p>"They aren't normal rookies. You need to remember that, <em> Tsun </em>."</p>
<h4>End of Chapter Zero</h4>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h2>Chapter 1</h2>
<h3>The Road to Becoming Official Agents</h3>
<p>"<em>Ding dong, dong ding.</em>" the last bell for school rang out. </p>
<p>Girl 1- "I can't believe how long Teach's lesson took."</p>
<p>Girl 2- "I know, right?"</p>
<p>Girl 3- "Unbelievable."</p>
<p>Girl 2- "Hey, did you hear? Kasakabe's new boyfriend is a member of Border."</p>
<p>Girl 1- "What? No way! Are you serious?"</p>
<p>Girl 3- "Wait, Ketsugou, aren't you with Border too?"</p>
<p>Girl 2- "What? There's no way he's with Border. Look at him. He's only good at math and stuff. There's no way they'd take him."</p>
<p>As she said that, a young woman came through the classroom door. She gave an almost exuberant smile.</p>
<p>Girl 1- "Who are you? Why is a highschooler even in here?"</p>
<p>Mukabe<em> - </em> "Come on <em> Katai </em> . <em> Sou </em> wants you and <em> Alex </em> for your training. Though, as far as I know, you two should be ready."</p>
<p>Girl 3- "Ready for what? What are you talking about?"</p>
<p>Mukabe- "Oh, nothing really all <em> that important </em> , just a little <em> special training </em>."</p>
<p>It was then that a boy, who's black hair had a bleached white line on the front left side, walked towards the door and stood in front of the young woman. </p>
<p>Ketsugou- "Alright Ms. Mukabe, I think you've teased them enough, and Drake left before me."</p>
<p>Mukabe- "You know I don't like it when people make fun of you. I may be a teenager, but I’m still your senior."</p>
<p>Ketsugou- “You jumped the gun a little there. They weren’t really making fun of me. They were just curious about what you were talking about.”</p>
<p>Boy 1- "WAIT! Is that Tsun Mukabe? She's a legit A-rank! Why would an A-rank bother themselves with Ketsugou?"</p>
<p>Mukabe- "Alright, time to go."</p>
<p>Ketsugou- "Yes ma'am!"</p>
<p>The two made their way out of the building and headed for the entrance of the Border base. It was a long walk. Throughout most of it, Mukabe teased Ketsugou. She was the playful type, and while she took her job seriously, nothing was as important to her as being able to keep a smile on everyone’s faces. That was part of why she joined Border in the first place.</p>
<p>Mukabe- "Are you ready?"</p>
<p>Ketsugou- "Yes. I think? I mean, can anyone really be ready for him, besides you of course."</p>
<p>Mukabe- "That's true. He isn't the easiest person to get along with, but <em> Alex </em> and I seem to manage that just fine."</p>
<p>They walked towards the training rooms. As the door opened, they could hear the yelling coming from Soen and Drake’s training session.</p>
<p>Soen- "SERIOUSLY, YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO USE THE RAYGUST PROPERLY! NOW SWITCH IT TO SHIELD MODE!"</p>
<p>Drake- "YES, SIR!"</p>
<p>Soen, a tall young man with platinum blond hair and almost black eyes with a full black biker jacket with a green line and green cargo pants, was training Drake, a boy about the same age as Ketsugou who possessed light brown skin, dark brown hair, and green eyes. Drake was a foreigner who had transferred from overseas when his father was stationed to a military base in the same region.</p>
<p>He was currently being pushed back by Soen as his Raygust, a trigger with the ability to transform to a sword or a shield, was barely holding out against Soen's Scorpion.  He let up on his attack to speak.</p>
<p>Soen- "Have you had enough?"</p>
<p>Drake- "I can keep going all day. How about you? Is that sweat on your forehead? Either I'm getting better or you're getting worse. Ha ha ha."</p>
<p>Soen suddenly pushed Drake away, catching the teen off balance and then kicking his feet right from under him. Drake fell on his back as Soen pointed his revolver at his face.</p>
<p>Soen- "What was that? I couldn’t hear you from down there!"</p>
<p>Drake- "I won’t fall for that next time."</p>
<p>Soen let out a sigh before helping him back onto his feet.</p>
<p>Soen- "Whatever you say. You need to remember to stay on guard. Your opponents will take advantage of any openings they find. No one will show you any mercy outside of training. Now come on, I want to see you use that Raygust properly!"</p>
<p>Drake- "Yes Sir!"</p>
<p>Mukabe and Ketsugou weren’t supposed to be able to hear anything going on in the room. The fact they could hear anything meant that Soen and Drake were recording their matches again.</p>
<p>Mukabe- "Looks like they're at it again. You wanna start training too, or are you just going to sit here and stare into my eyes."</p>
<p>Ketsugou- "Huh, what, I'm- , I- I'm not- Uuuh-, wait... You're just messing with me again, aren't you?”</p>
<p>Mukabe- "Yeah, I was, sorry. Your reaction was cute though. If you wanna stare at them, I don't mind. Just don’t get too distracted. We still need to do your training."</p>
<p>Ketsugou- "You're just messing with me, right?"</p>
<p>Mukabe just gives a gentle shrug. Despite her seniority within Border's ranks, she didn't appear much older than him. She would sometimes let up her act like this, speaking sincerely and dropping the tone of her voice. Mukabe may be flirty at times, but when she speaks in the same manner she used in that moment, everyone around her is given a reminder that she is, indeed, mature, despite her childish nature.</p>
<p>They set up in the training room next to the others and began Ketsugou's training. Like his closest friend in the room over, he needed combat training in order to become an official member.</p>
<p>Mukabe- "Ready?"</p>
<p>Ketsugou- "Ready!"</p>
<p>Mukabe and Ketsugou readied their triggers in their hands and activated the weapons with a shout, "TRIGGER ON!" Ketsugou’s clothes changed from his school uniform to a baggy white uniform with an orange stripe going down the shirt and a small border logo on his arms while Mukabe's outfit changed to a short black half jacket with a blue line going down both sleeves, a white undershirt, and blue cargo shorts.</p>
<p>Mukabe- "You remember how to use that thing, right?"</p>
<p>Ketsugou- "Yes, ma'am!"</p>
<p>Ketsugou readied his Ibis, a large and fairly heavy sniper type trigger that focuses on bullet damage over fire rate or portability. For the purposes of training him, Mukabe used Viper bullets for her Uzi shaped gunner type trigger. This threw off Ketsugou's senses since Viper has the ability to control the trajectory of its bullets. Mukabe wasn’t giving Ketusgou any breathing room as he tried to dodge the Viper rounds from her Uzi.</p>
<p>Mukabe- "Always keep this in mind, you're a sniper. You gotta run when the enemy finds you! Especially with that huge gun you’re toting around!"</p>
<p>Ketsugou performed a backflip to dodge the volley of bullets coming at him. He then tried to rush Mukabe, only for him to lose his balance and tumble onto the training floor. He looked at his legs and saw that his knee had been shot. He tried to crawl farther away but froze as soon as he saw the gun barrel in his face.</p>
<p>Mukabe- "That was much better than last time, but that backflip took so much of your focus that I got a shot in from behind you."</p>
<p>She offered her hand to help Ketsugou up, which he gratefully accepted. After a few seconds, the training room repaired Ketsugou’s knee.</p>
<p>Ketsugou- "Guess I still have a long way to go, don't I."</p>
<p>The two prepared for another round as Ketsugou walked away from her. When they finally finished training for the day, it was already late at night and Drake was exhausted.</p>
<p>Soen- "That's enough for today's training. Let's stop for today."</p>
<p>Drake- "Yes sir. Should we go check on the others?"</p>
<p>Soen- "Knowing Mukabe, we need to make sure Ketsugou is still in one piece."</p>
<p>Soen and Drake turned their Triggers off and exited the training room and checked the monitor for Mukabe and Ketsugou's room. From the looks of things, Ketsugou was making progress. Mukabe had already lost three times in their most recent bout of twenty, and Ketsugou had already secured five out of the twelve fights this round. Soen thought better than to let them finish this round since a fight between these two could last hours. He swiftly pressed the cancellation button on the command console.</p>
<p>Training room- "Simulation terminated."</p>
<p>Mukabe- "Aw, come on <em> Sou </em>. We were having fun. Buzz-kill!"</p>
<p>Ketsugou- "Is it that late already? We only got two rounds in."</p>
<p>Soen activated the intercom. </p>
<p>Soen- "Take that as a testament to your progress. Mukabe used more defensive tactics because you can actually threaten her attack style in combat. I know the official enlistment day is over a month away, but you've both come a long way. Who knew getting your butts handed to you day after day for two months would make you grow so much. You guys might reach B-rank in record time."</p>
<p>Drake- "Was that your idea of a joke or are you trying to flatter us?"</p>
<p>Soen- "I'm serious. Both Ketsugou and yourself have progressed rapidly. If you ever find a reliable shooter, a decent operator, and a competent attacker, the five of you might make A-rank before the next batch of trainees comes in."</p>
<p>As Soen finished his sentence, Mukabe and Ketsugou walked through the door with both their triggers already disabled. </p>
<p>Mukabe- "So, why'd you turn it off?"</p>
<p>Soen- "It's 23:45. Drake and Ketsugou need to go home. Their parents don't know they're being trained by us to become Border agents. Do you want to be responsible for telling their parents why they were with two adults past sunrise tomorrow morning? I didn't think so. Now get them home, my defence patrol starts in fifteen minutes."</p>
<p>Mukabe- "Fine, leave it to me. Just remember to wake me up before my shift."</p>
<p>Drake- "Wait, what?"</p>
<p>Ketsugou- "They share an apartment, remember? They keep putting away all their salary so they share a home in order to pay less overall in terms of living expenses."</p>
<p>Drake- "Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting they do that."</p>
<p>Mukabe- "Come on, time to get you home. Tomorrow's your last day of school for the week which means you need to sleep at least three hours."</p>
<p>Soen- "It's supposed to be seven to nine hours. How little do you sleep?"</p>
<p>Mukabe shrugged it off with a smile and ignored his question and moved on. She took Ketsugou and Drake back to their homes before heading home herself, ending the day for them but not Soen. He still had his rounds of defence duty tonight.</p>
<p>After finishing off his third Bamster for the night, Soen's phone began to ring. He checked the caller ID and decided it was best to pick it up now rather than have this particular person leave a massage. </p>
<p>Soen- "Hello?"</p>
<p>???- "Hey. I heard you were looking for a shooter among the rookies that will be signing up next month so I found one I think you should take a look at."</p>
<p>Soen- "Why are you doing this for me? Don't you have better things to keep you occupied?"</p>
<p>???- "Yeah, yeah. I know, but I still owe you one, don't I?"</p>
<p>Soen- "So that's what this is about? Send me their info after my patrol. I'll take a look at them."</p>
<p>???- "No need just yet. I can train her up myself for a little while. I swear, she was born to be a shooter. I’ll make sure she’s introduced to them. Anyway, I can't keep you all night so… Bye."</p>
<p>The phone let out a simple beep as the caller hung up. Soen put away his phone and continued his patrol. </p>
<p>Soen- "They've been getting more active lately. Well, back to work."</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <span class="u">Chapter 1 Afterword </span>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>Soen- "So, Drake could you please explain the Border Trainee registry system."</p>
<p>Drake- "Yes sir, within Border there is an examination most people go through to register as a member of Border. For instance, say someone wanted to become an engineer, they would need to pass a specific test to be able to get the job."</p>
<p>Soen- "Very good. Ketsugou, how would someone become a Border Defence Agent?"</p>
<p>Ketsugou- "To enlist as a Defence Agent, you must pass a physical exam as well as a written one. However, if Border finds your Trion level to be insufficient, you won't be accepted under normal circumstances. The real complication comes in the form of the Official Enlis…"</p>
<p>Mukabe- "Hey, save something for a later day, will ya. We can't just tell them everything off the bat, now can we?"</p>
<p>Ketsugou- "Whoops, I guess you're right. Well, see you next time."</p>
<h4>End of Chapter 1</h4>
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